VINELAND — One of the best kept secrets in the city’s backyard is a local business that started small but developed into an international success.

That company, Chemglass Inc., has been named the 2012 Business of the Year by the Greater Vineland Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber tonight will honor the owners at its annual gala at Eastlyn Golf Course and Country Club. Vice presidents David Surdam and his brother, Philip, will accept the award at the event.

“We’re very honored,” said Dave Surdam, a third-generation owner and master glass blower. “Glass blowing is an art, and it is an honor to be recognized among our peers.”

The Chamber’s executive director, Dawn Hunter, said Chemglass is “a success story that not many people know about.” The laboratory glass company was named Business of the Year because of its economic success and community commitment, she said.

“They are truly an American success story in our own backyard,” Hunter said. “They’ve been in business so long, and they’re a vital part of our economy here because they employ 200-plus people. So that’s important to our local economy.

“There’s is a great story of a small, family-owned and operated business,” Hunter said.

She noted Chemglass is very “generous and charitable” in its community involvement.

After more than 66 years in business, Chemglass is home to 240 employees, many of them master glass blowers whose skills turn out research glassware for national and international clients.

Chemglass Life Sciences LLC, a woman-owned business established in 2009, is the distribution arm for Chemglass Inc. manufactured scientific and chemistry products.

Chemglass was started by David Surdam’s grandfather, Walter P. Surdam, in 1946. He was a scientific glass blower who previously had worked at Kimble Glass. He died in 1998.

The company’s original home was Newfield, in a converted 2,000-square-foot chicken coop with six employees. Its current main building in Vineland is 45 times that size.

“Sometimes I look around our building now and see what it’s become, and I wonder what my grandfather would think if he saw all this,” David Surdam said.

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In 1980, the company moved to Vineland Industrial Park into a brand-new 5,000-square-foot building that housed 20 employees. Chemglass was the third company to locate in the park, behind Garton’s Rigging and UPS.

David Surdam said that, as the company continued to grow, four additions were made to the original building for a total of 33,000 square feet.

“Chemglass soon required a larger facility as the business grew and added more and more employees,” Surdam said.

When a 90,000-square-foot building became available across the street from the original Vineland location, the firm purchased it in 2005 to increase production and warehouse capability. It also has two smaller facilities in Vineland.

As Chemglass grew, so did the staff. The company now has 15 sales representatives throughout the country. Some of the company’s biggest clients are some of the world’s best-known firms and schools, include Pfizer Pharmaceutical, the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical firm; Bristol-Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company; Princeton; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and University of California, San Francisco.

David Surdam said the hand-blown glass containers made by his company can be found just about anywhere research is being conducted.

“It’s neat to think that when you see some of the products that help fight AIDS and cancer and even the common cold, you know they were researched in one of these glass containers,” Surdam said.

Research that discovered the components for Advil or Viagra also happened with Chemglass glassware.

Each piece of glass is hand-designed at a temperature of 2,100 degrees. Too hot could mean the glass will have bubbles, and too cold could mean a crack, David Surdam said.

“You have to be really careful at this job,” he said. “This glass is very tempered so it doesn’t shatter as easily for scientific research.”

Despite decades of change, modernization and growth, Surdam and his family have managed to retain a close relationship with the staff.

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“Some of these employees have been with us 50 or more years,” he said. “They take pride in their work.”

The employees’ longevity is testimony to a balance Surdam seems to have struck for his employees between their work and personal life.

Surdam knows each of his employees on a first-name basis. Employees’ birthdays are posted in the shop. Surdam hosts a Halloween costume contest each year. It’s things like that which make Chemglass more like a family than a business.

“You’ve got to have fun sometimes. We used to play volleyball too. Employees know the owners are always accessible. My dad and brother always have an open door whenever an issue comes up,” Surdam said.

“We spend money to make money, we don’t cheap out,” he said. “We give employees what they need to do the job and be successful.”

Mike Sims of Upper Deerfield has been a master glass blower for 15 years, starting right out of high school.

“I was just looking for a job and they taught me everything I needed to know,” Sims said. “There’s still a lot for me to learn and money to make. You never stop learning in this business. While your here, you are working with friends who are more like your family.”

Bill Schmidt, an employee for 25 years, said the job helped him find his artistic niche.

“I enjoy the work and I enjoy that it’s a job which isn’t stressful and you don’t have someone on top you all the time,” he said. “This is a nice place to work. Even the boss says ‘good morning’ when you come in to work.”

Master glass blower Keith Lloyd of Centerton came to Chemglass after completing a glass-blowing program at Salem Community College. He’s the first glass blower in his family and has been with Chemglass for 20 years.

“It just looked like a neat job and you’re not stuck in an office,” Lloyd said. “This job is good for a person who can work on their own.”

Plant manager Alan Durham started when he was 16 and a senior in high school.

“I was working masonry work at his (Dave Surdam’s) father’s home and his father offered me a chance to learn the trade,” he said.

Durham, one of 11 original employees still with the company, has seen the business grow. He now oversees staff for Surdam.

“His dad was the best boss and this business is a shining example of what this family does,” Durham said. “There’s never a problem. It’s all lead by example.”

Surdam said there’s change ahead, as he predicts company growth and development in the life science field.

Mayor Robert Romano lauded the company’s community spirit.

“They were one of the first companies in town to donate $1,000 to the fireworks fund and they’ve always got the best interest of the community in mind,” Romano said.

“They’re so community active and any time you need them, they’re always there helping the city,” he said. “They’re a top-notch operation and a real success.”

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